Will Arrington, Ramsey return?

John Keim

01/17/2006

The mood
was better than previous final days, when the players would exit without a
playoff berth. This time, their final day at Redskins Park for the 2005 season
came with lots of smiles, yet a twinge of disappointment for the opportunity
lost in Seattle. But they
also exited with two major questions:

He wants
to come back and said Monday that he would be willing to renegotiate his
contract. He won't return if he doesn't because he'd count around $12 million
against the cap. There's also the matter of what his position coach, Dale
Lindsey, thinks of him. Lindsey is high on Lemar Marshall and Marcus Washington
largely because of their approach. Both have always been intense studiers;
Arrington, until recently, had not been. Despite problems with Lindsey,
Arrington wants to stay.

Joe Gibbs
did not meet with Arrington today, saying it's a matter that does not need to
be resolved immediately.

''I hope
they can bring LaVar back,'' Redskins end Renaldo Wynn said. ''A lot of things
happened this past year and I hope they don't look at that and then not make a
decision to have him back.''

Gibbs did
meet with Ramsey to discuss the future and will do so again in a couple weeks.
It almost sounded as if Gibbs wanted this matter resolved relatively soon. And
if Ramsey wants to be traded, Gibbs would accommodate him. He turned down a
couple trade requests during the season, however. There should be no rush:
Ramsey is still under contract and would not fetch much in a trade.

"I don't
know what's going to happen," said Ramsey, benched in the season opener. "I'd
like to play obviously. That was my concern when everything took place. If I
want to develop as a quarterback and play well, then it needs to start some
point soon."

...Both
safety Ryan Clark and tight end Robert Royal, the Redskins only unrestricted
free agent starters, said they want to return. Neither is expected to be too
costly to resign. But one safety, Matt Bowen, could be in trouble considering
he'd count $2.4 million against the cap in 2006. It's also the last year of his
contract so there's no rush to cut him.

...There's
a strong sense from the players that they'd be willing to restructure deals if
necessary. One thing to watch is what happens with Chris Samuels, who would
count more than $10 million against the cap. He signed a new deal last year,
but that's a high cap figure for anyone. Here's the thing: his agent is also
Ramsey's agent. Makes you wonder if Jimmy Sexton would be more willing to redo
the deal if certain wishes are granted for Ramsey. There's no reason to believe
that's the case, but in these matters, you wonder about everything.

...Sounds
as if Ray Brown eventually will have a role in this organization. He has talked
to Gibbs about doing something; but they're not sure yet what he'll do.

...The
Redskins are working on extensions for their assistant coaches.